Favorite tunes to play solo (alone)

[Tom C]

Playing with others seem to have gotten more difficult.
What are some of your favorites to play alone? For one, I really like Cloverleaf Rag. I like the combinations of notes and chords. What others are like this?

[Blueglass]

for the season i like chesnuts roasting on an open fire.

[bush-man]

I love to play Lochs of Dread by Bela Fleck. Sounds great solo. I got the idea to go solo with this piece from a live recording I have of Sam Bush giving a mandolin seminar wherein he plays it.

russell

[bush-man]

Oh! And don't forget to give Bach a try. Any of the solo partitas, or suites sound fantastic.

russell

[Stephanie Reiser]

When Mandolins Dream, and Ashoken Farewell.

[jasona]

Ashoken is a good choice. These das I'm really enjoying playing Boston Boy by myself.

[cooper4205]

i can play "cattle in the cane" solo all night. it's a fun one to play

[Dan Adams]

Tunes I may be hesitant to try with others, but are challenging to me: Jeruselum Ridge, Done Gone, Lonesome Fiddle Blues (ironic choice?), Dan

[sgarrity]

Evening Prayer Blues, A Place in the Heart, Ashokan Farewell

[John Flynn]

Goin'Down to Cairo (G)
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen (Dm)
Greensleeves (Em)
Go Tell it on the Mountain (F)

[JeffD]

Ashoken Farewell is a good choice, as is the Lovers Waltz.

Good to have something that outsiders can recognize, however, for when your inlaws ask you to play something on that ukelele your spouse always talks about.

Yesterday by the Beatles is good, or Scarborough Fair by Simon and Garfunkel, or even Tennessee Waltz - something recognizable, pleasing to you so you enjoy learning it well.

[mando_toss_flycoon]

Here are a few that I like to play solo:

Crazy Creek (Fiddler's Fakebook version)
Moving in Stereo (The Cars)
Shady Grove (Grisman/Garcia version)
Kentucky Waltz
Norwegian Wood
Big Sandy River
And I've been working on the first part of "To Cry You a Song" (Jethro Tull)

[bush-man]

Interesting, I don't know this piece, Ashoken Farewell, which has been mentioned more then twice. I'll have to do a google. New Camptown Races is another one I like to do solo, although I'm still trying to work it up to more speed then a crawl. Sounds good anyway. Oh! and Somewhere Over the Rainbow!

russell

[Phil Jolly]

I've recently been working out a couple of solo arrangements I've come up with of Angeline the Baker (in both G and D) and Cherokee Shuffle and those have been a lot of fun

[jim_n_virginia]

To my ears there are few mandolin tunes that sound good solo. I like Ashoken's Farewell too and Simon Mayer's A Dark And Slender Boy is haunting and a joy to play.

I like Jerusalem Ridge too but that tune almost begs for a guitar back up.

Westphalia Waltz and Tenn Waltz in fact most slow tunes sound OK with just mandolion, to my ears anyways.

[Soupy1957]

I remember "Ashokan Farewell" from the Ken Burns Civil War series.

That would be a neat tune to learn..anyone have the tabs?

-Soupy1957

[Jim Broyles]

It's in D, Soup, and is VERY easy to sound out. No hard notes at all. Try it without the tab and see if you can train your ear. Here's a start - the first three notes are A-C#-D on the A string. Somewhere on this forum, I posted the chord changes for it when someone asked for them.

[Jim Broyles]

This thread (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=24;t=33318;hl=ashokan+and+f arewell+&nbspand+chords) has the chords.

[Alex Orr]

I've been playing for a month, and for now, I only feel comfortable playing by myself http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[staggarlee]

How bout Lost Indian? I love playing that tune by myself. I also like playing Jerusalem Ridge.

[Mark Walker]

Slow Tunes:
1.) Somewhere Over The Rainbow
2.) Ashoken Farewell
3.) Sweet Afton

Up-Tempo Tunes:
1.) Jerusalem Ridge
2.) Dixie Hoedown
3.) Sailor's Hornpipe

[tree]

I've been working on Leather Britches, that's pretty fun. #Also Fiddler's Dram/Whiskey Before Breakfast. #My Own House (off the Bromberg album) is nice and modal, I like that too, and you can segue into Amazing Grace.

Best place to play alone I just stumbled across while traveling over the holidays - the swimming pool at the hotel, with all that echo. #Couple of cups of coffee, first thing in the morning, I've got the place to myself. #I ran through all of the above tunes and my family had to pry me away. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[DryBones]

slow and easy...Wayfaring Stranger

[otterly2k]

I like "Waltz of the Dreams" by Magnus Zetterlund... you can find it in the MP3 section here on the Cafe. Simple and elegant. and A Case of You (Joni Mitchell)... accompaniment on OM can sound very close to the original dulcimer part.

[swampstomper]

A good choice are tunes where the timekeeping is flexible, in fact where some variation according to the mood of the mandolinist is good. The top example here is Evening Prayer Blues.

Another good choice are tunes with lots of double-stops and tremelo, then the mando sounds fuller. A good example is Joyce's Waltz (Sizemore) or the aforementioned Westfalia Waltz, any waltz can be done up this way, agred.

A final choice are tunes where the backing chords are superfluous or downright impossible to find. My favourite example here is Old Danger Field. Sure there are chords but it sounds better when we can't really tell if it's major, minor or modal.

And of course when my wife calls from the other room when I'm practicing and says, "hey, that sounded good, play it again" you know you're on to something.

[mandocrucian]

For me, it's predominantly a "solo" approach most of the time anyway, regardless of whether I'm alone or there are other instruments playing. If one can become self-sufficient on the mando, adding a bass, or percussion, or a lead instrument (harmonica, flute, fiddle etc.)#just expands what is already happening on the mando. If you've ever heard any live solo Cooder shows, he'll do his mandolin songs by himself and it still sounds great. (even though other instruments are on the recorded versions, it's still an expansion of the solo arrangement). #At least half of the tracks on my On Fire & Ready! disc originated as solo arrangements, which is one reason there isn't any guitar on a lot of them - mando is holding down the fort.

Morris tunes ("Princess Royal"...), the Martin Carthy guitar influences take over, airs ("Loch Lomond"). Fatten up the jigs, reels, marches, polskas in a similar manner.

Blues stuff (ala Cooderesque "Billy The Kid" or "Goin' To Brownsville" type playing)
or Piedmont style fingerpicking ala Mississippi John Hurt

Old-time tunes/songs ("Frosty Morning", "Rain & Snow"....) ala "clawhammer mandolin", which recreates the clawhammer banjo patterns and sound, on the mando neck. Different right technique though.

Rock stuff #(e.g. "La Grange", "Pride & Joy", "Stone Free", "Money Talks" etc.) - basically replicating, more or less, the guitar part(s) - rhythm & lead - on the mando neck. #Also tap out drumkit patterns with the feet to propel the groove and allow me to hit sustained power chords, or leave silent rhythmic holes without things falling apart.

Niles H

[Jim Garber]

I remember "Ashokan Farewell" from the Ken Burns Civil War series.

That would be a neat tune to learn..anyone have the tabs?

-Soupy1957
It is in the Mandozine Tabledit files here (http://www.mandozine.com/music/search_results.php?searchfor=ashokan&tuneselectby=C&mandolevel=&category=&songkey=&artist=&transcriber=&sortby=T&sortorder=A&submit=)

Soupy you have the correct spelling for those who attempted to search.

Jim

[Jim Garber]

There is a whole body of work for the classical mandolin called duo style which are solo pieces for unaccompanied mandolin. Mandolin composers such as Calace, Munier, Pettine and Ranieri contributed to the repertoire. Some are relatively accesible and some are more difficult. Among the most beautiful is Calace's Notturno Cielo Stellato.

Two recently issued CDs of unaccompanied solo pieces for mandolin are Gertrud Weyhofen's Piccola Musica and Alison Stephen's Con Espressione.

Jim

[mehrsam]

In no particular order...

Midnight On The Water
Oklahoma Redbird
Kitchen Girl
The Butterfly (Simon Mayor)
Over The Waterfall
Red-haired Boy
The Teetotaler's Fancy
Texas Gales
Bach's Bouree in Em

I find that most fiddle tunes sound good as solos (to my ears, anyway) because they're...fiddle tunes; strong single-note melodies with chords / double stops added at appropriate places. but I like the point that was made about learning more modern or popular pieces (Beatles,etc.) that would satisfy some listeners' needs to hear something familiar. I suspect that would help you break out of familiar patterns, also.

[Mandomax]

Desvairada
El Cumbanchero
Russian Rag
Courante from Partita no II in Bm (Bach)

[Bob Simmers]

"Little Annie" in D
"Old Dangerfield"
Lonesome Moonlight Waltz
"Over the Rainbow" in A

[Peter Hackman]

I think Howdy Forrester's Fiddler's Waltz is well suited to solo playing,
but I'd love to have the piano that accompanied him on the record.

This is the only tune of mine that I conceived as a solo piece:

http://www.huthyfs.com/music/rest.mp3

It would be hard for an accompanist to follow as the ad lib sections
are of indefinite length (in fact, the written parts are, too!).
But I'd like to do it with some kind of percussion.
"Rest and Be Thankful", (a k a "Crossing the Grampians")
named for a steep road just outside Tarbet in
Scotland. It quotes a well-known fiddle tune after about 1.40.

[AlanN]

I like to do "What a Friend we Have in Jesus", and put some Dempsey licks in there.

RIP, Dempsey Young.

[JeffD]

Somewhere Over the Rainbow is another excellent choice - very musical and your inlaws will love it.

[JeffD]

There is a whole body of work for the classical mandolin called duo style which are solo pieces for unaccompanied mandolin. Mandolin composers such as Calace, Munier, Pettine and Ranieri contributed to the repertoire. Some are relatively accesible and some are more difficult. Among the most beautiful is Calace's Notturno Cielo Stellato.
I would really like to get more into this kind of thing - but I am more than somewhat intimidated. I have been playing some Bach - the more popular stuff, but I would like to get into pieces written for the mandolin.

[James P]

I was pretty hungup on Cherokee for awhile, but lately it's been 'Mando do Carnaval' in Gm. #
My finger's default fiddle tune always seems to be 'Whiskey Before Breakfast.'

[Ted Eschliman]

Nola.

[glauber]

I was pretty hungup on Cherokee for awhile, but lately it's been 'Mando do Carnaval' in Gm.
Manhã de Carnaval (Luis Bonfá)?

[glauber]

Oh! And don't forget to give Bach a try. Any of the solo partitas, or suites sound fantastic.
I agree. I like the "Mandobach" book by Wolfhead, but the Mel Bay Bach is not too bad. I do my own bastardized arrangement of Jesu Joy of Mankind, which never ceases to entertain (myself)! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Steve-o]

When Mandolins Dream, and Ashoken Farewell.
Ashoken Farewell, OK, but I can only dream about playing "When Mandolins Dream," Amanda Lyn. You must be very accomplished. How long have you been playing? And how do you like playing it on your new Poe?

[swinginmandolins]

Besides my own tunes, I like to play Jazz standards in chord solo. Some of my favs are
Willow Weep For Me
I'm Beginning to See The Light
Sentimental Journey
More Than You Know
I've Got A Chrush On You
There are more as playing through these and the others I have learned can keep me busy for at least 6 hours http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[James P]

Manhã de Carnaval (Luis Bonfá)?
I've heard it called so many names... what's one more? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[jackofall]

"The Old House" - Actually works better on tenor b*njo... very simple, but possible to inject a LOT of feeling.

"Swallow's Tail" - A great reel

"Maid Behind the Bar" - Another fine reel

"Top of the Cork Road" - a great jig

"Bile them Cabbage Down" - Got it down from Sam Bush's DVD, great fun.

"Sailors' Hornpipe" - I like doing the old Proms thing gradually speeding up until I collapse!

[red7flag]

The ones I write
Watzing Matilda
Gary Owen
Scotland the Brave
Loch Loman
8th of January
The Girl I Left Behind
I guess these are the songs I don't play with my bluegrass buds.
Tony

[Mark Walker]

...And of course when my wife calls from the other room when I'm practicing and says, "hey, that sounded good, play it again" you know you're on to something.
Heheheh... #MY wife would never hear me through the headphones she has on listening to something OTHER than me! # http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wow.gif

[Bobbie Dier]

I usually play Cincinnati Rag and Ride the wild Turkey by myself because I can't get anyone else to learn them.
Yeah and Texas Lonestar.

[Keith Erickson]

I love to play...

...You are my Flower & Green Sleeves http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[Stephanie Reiser]

#You must be very accomplished. #How long have you been playing? #And how do you like playing it on your new Poe?
I've been playing almost 4 years.
I do not own a Poe, as I only play mandolins that I have built myself (the only decent ones I can afford).
When Mandolins Dream isn't that bad, mostly, if you undertake it one or two measures at a time. I have the darn thing memorized. I can't play it a Thile's speed, but I can at about 90%.

[seanonabutton]

dm gigue [bach]

[Jack Roberts]

Suites for Solo Cello.

[Jim Garber]

There is a whole body of work for the classical mandolin called duo style which are solo pieces for unaccompanied mandolin. Mandolin composers such as Calace, Munier, Pettine and Ranieri contributed to the repertoire. Some are relatively accesible and some are more difficult. Among the most beautiful is Calace's Notturno Cielo Stellato.
I would really like to get more into this kind of thing - but I am more than somewhat intimidated. I have been playing some Bach - the more popular stuff, but I would like to get into pieces written for the mandolin.
JIm Dalton, who has written a number of instruction books and posts on the classical section a bunch, has a few files on duo style on this page (http://singingstring.org/JD/mandolin.html).

It is not as difficult as it sounds. Follow the exercises he provides -- these are very similar to other duo style prep exercises from Pettine and Bickford and others. You just have to be patient.

Jim

[glauber]

Manhã de Carnaval (Luis Bonfá)?
I've heard it called so many names... what's one more? http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif
If it's the theme of the "Black Orpheus" movie, that's what it's called ("Morning of Carnival", although the sense of the lyrics implies it's the "morning after"). I love that tune. Luís Bonfá is probably the most under-rated Bossa Nova composer; a very decent guitar player too. Died in Rio de Janeiro, in 2001.

[Steve-o]

I've been playing almost 4 years. I do not own a Poe, as I only play mandolins that I have built myself (the only decent ones I can afford).
When Mandolins Dream isn't that bad, mostly, if you undertake it one or two measures at a time.
That's encouraging. In another 2 years, I might have it down! Sorry to mix you up with the other "Amanda Lyn" whose user name is "Amandalyn" - confusing! I'm impressed that you build your own mandos.

[homermando]

I like to medley Norwegian Wood ,(mentioned before), with Across The Universe and Dear Prudence. Lots of cross picking/alternate picking with some tremolo bits and plenty of Beatles melody.